AstraZeneca's global cull claims 700 jobs in Cheshire

AstraZeneca, Britain's second largest drug maker, is to cut 700 supply and manufacturing jobs at its Macclesfield plant and has refused to rule out more job cuts in the next few years.

The company announced at the beginning of the month that it would shed 3,000 manufacturing jobs around the world but did not say where the cuts would be. Yesterday it confirmed 700 would be at the Macclesfield plant in Cheshire, over the next three years. The plant employs 2,500 people of whom 1,800 are in supply and manufacturing positions.

AstraZeneca is seen as crucial to the economy of Cheshire as it also employs 4,500 people at Alderley Park in the county. It said the job cuts were necessary to improve "the overall efficiency and effectiveness of supply and manufacturing operations". A spokesman said: "The 700 [job cuts] over the next three years is a significant number. What I can't say is whether that is the final number."

AstraZeneca is facing increasing concern over its pipeline of products after the failure of three late-stage drugs last year.

Neil Holden, regional organiser of the GMB union, said: "We're shocked at the number of redundancies that affect the Macclesfield site." He added: "We're concerned that we've been working with the company for two years on effectiveness and efficiencies, and there was never any mention of head-count redundancies."

The news comes several weeks after Pfizer's announcement that it is to cut 10,000 positions around the world, including about 250 in Britain.

It coincides with the Office of Fair Trading report on drug pricing, which said drug companies were making too much money from the NHS. The company spokesman said the timing of the announcements was purely coincidental. "AstraZeneca's Macclesfield site continues to be integral to the company's global supply chain and will remain one of the largest worldwide supply sites." The company had confirmed plans to invest £63.5m in a new research and development laboratory there.